RAIL bosses have been accused of plotting to scrap train services between Wilmslow and London.

Tatton MP George Osborne said the service - which runs three trains a day - was popular and used by 78,000 passengers a year.

"The services remain hugely popular but it has emerged that the Strategic Rail Authority is on the brink of scrapping these important services, with no consultation," Tory Mr Osborne told the Commons.

He said the SRA wanted to scrap the route to shave a couple of minutes off the Manchester to London journey time, bringing it within a whisker of two hours. He said that by the time people woke up to what was being planned the time for consultation had passed.

"It is the worst kind of high-handed, arrogant and secretive decision making," said Mr Osborne.

Transport minister David Jamieson, accepted that Virgin Trains had said they favoured a route between Manchester and London via Stoke, rather than Wilmslow and Crewe.

"However, there may still be scope for running some direct services through Wilmslow, and it's even possible that the current service will be maintained if it is demonstrated that it offers value for money," said the minister.

But he said that if the service was scrapped Wilmslow passengers were only 25 minutes away from Crewe, Stockport or Manchester by local train services.

He added that the é2.3bn upgrade of the West Coast main line would increase the service from Crewe to London from 32 trains to 42 trains a day in 2004 and the journey from Manchester to 29 trains a day.